Analog, where to start?

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Brad225

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I have been thinking about starting to set up an analog front end for my system.

There are so many different tables, arms, phono stages and misc items it is a bit overwhelming. I looked at many of your systems and envision how to break the news to my wife $5000-10,000 to play records is actually a good deal,
and not have her call for the men with the stylish white coat with the lovely straps.

What I am looking for to start setting a side funds and start purchasing a set up is, what level of equipment do I need to be looking at? I don't want to purchase equipment that will not have a chance of sounding at least as good as the CD / SACD front end I listen to now.

I know there will be the tweaking, gnashing of teeth and drinking of wine as I figure it out.

Current listening is with Vacuum State mods to a Sony SCD-1 , ARC LS25mkI, ARC VTM200's to CLS's.

I would need the table, arm and cartridge, plus phono stage not to mention new rack, cleaner, anti vibration stuff, anti static stuff. Whew, my head and savings account hurt just thinking about all of it.

This addition will not be an immediate purchase. I just don't want to start looking too low on the equipment scale as far as the sound quality and cost are involved.

I have no clue where to start. But it's all fun.
 
Lots of options for sure !

You could start by PM'ing satch, get his thoughts since I believe he has just begun. As well as Joey for he started and gave up the ghost.

but with respect to my two cents.......... ask yourself..... am I doing this because it's the "in thing' right now or do you 'really' want to go down the analog path ??? Remember most of us that are serious into analog are older and that is what we grew up on and here's the clincher......we have sizeable LP collections to begin with.

Brad, I'm not trying to derail your ideas, rather recomending that you give serious thought to the whole picture. I think it is fair to say that those of us that are spinning vinyl do so because we trully love the format and have no plans on abandoning it anytime soon !

If you do go forward with your plans I believe you should allocate a min of $2000 to get yourself up and running with what you need to acquire. That number assumes some used purchases mixed in as well. If you feel able to spend more, great, it can and will buy you improvements to a point.

So, given all the above dribble, if you're going forward give us your budget and us analog whacko's will help you spend it !!
 
A couple of cents.

Lots of options for sure !

.

but with respect to my two cents.......... ask yourself..... am I doing this because it's the "in thing' right now or do you 'really' want to go down the analog path ??? Remember most of us that are serious into analog are older and that is what we grew up on and here's the clincher......we have sizeable LP collections to begin with.
So, given all the above dribble, if you're going forward give us your budget and us analog whacko's will help you spend it !!

Two very true statements.:bowdown: A younger friend of mine (12 years younger) has heard my rig and started a set-up. He has however started very modest. I'm not sure, he is sure that this will be lasting thing for him. He is starting from the ground up.:eek: No LPs or anything to do with analog. Take your time whatever you decide, If you have friends that have tables you can go listen to this would be a great place to start. They might be able to show you "stuff" you might not of considered.

Doug - out
 
Question - Do you own enough vinyl to make it worth your while?

If not than you need to determine if you are willing to:

a. Crawl around used record stores to find the stuff you like and can buy a lot of.

b. Spend between $30.00 and $50.00 or more for some of the better reissues e. g., the Speakers Corner Deccas, the AP Blue Notes or the Cisco Famous Blue Raincoat ($79.99).

c. Do you have the space to store them.

Now, I love vinyl and so do my children, but I don't know if I'd spend big bucks to try it out. I'd take a look at some of the Pro-Ject tables along with their phono stages for an affordable entry to the world of vinyl.
 
Hey Brad,

I posted a WTB here in the classified section for a tt (ready to play) in the 2-3k range and jtwrace hooked me up with a Schew-Analog Cello. I absolutely love it.

I don't really know how to explain the difference in sound from digital, but to me it just feels more real. I grew up with records so I guess that analog sound is indelibly etched in what little gray matter I have left.

I started with a half dozen new albums that were remastered versions of some old blues, classic rock and jazz. I have more coming in today. Last night I ordered a VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine and MORE RECORDS!

I've basically put together my whole audio system from stuff I bought from the members here or from advise that I gleaned browsing the various threads. So far so good. Thanks all.

Satch
 
Thanks Guys I currently still have about 200 albums that are on shelves in our music/TV room. I looked through them and assuming they don't sound terrible, I would still listen to most of them, some more than others.

For a couple of weeks (last year)I listened to some of them on a cheap old ($99) Kenwood TT & Stanton cartriage I pulled out of storage and hooked to an unused Aragon SS preamp with phono stage then to my ARC pre. I had not listened to vinyl in years. It was a bit harsh at times listening to the music. I'm sure from the equipment stand point more than the recordings but that is hard to say. The sound was not as bad as I was expecting.

That said there was something comforting about listening to vinyl again, maybe just nostalgia but, the few clicks and pops weren't as bad as I remember. Though having something other than a hand held record cleaning brush would make a world of difference I'm sure. Even with that equipment there was a warmth and fullness that was very enjoyable.

Do you vinyl people out there use tube or ss phono stages to your preamps and is it nothing more than liking the sound of tubes?

I did find when I used the Aragon 24K preamp phono stage to the ARC preamp the signal was quite low and I had to turn the volumn up quite a bit
(3 o'clock) to listen as slightly louder than room conversation level. Any thoughts on using a preamp phono stage to feed another preamp?

I guess I need to research and do some more soul searching to be sure this is the direction I want to go.

Thanks again
 
Even with that equipment there was a warmth and fullness that was very enjoyable.
Sounds like you are hooked! There is no going back ! :eek:

Do you vinyl people out there use tube or ss phono stages to your preamps and is it nothing more than liking the sound of tubes?
Toobs for me; I like the sound of tubes. :music:

Any thoughts on using a preamp phono stage to feed another preamp?
No problem with doing that. Did you connect the tape out or the main out of your Aragon to your ARC? If it was the main out, what was the position of the volume control on the Aragon? With a Stanton there should have not been a problem, so I suspect you used the main out, with the volume control on the Aragon at a low level. The tape out is the preferred method as it is a fixed output that bypasses the volume pot (pots are dirty).
I guess I need to research and do some more soul searching to be sure this is the direction I want to go.

Thanks again
Ideally it would be good if you could get a dealer to lend you a reasonably good table for a week or so. Maybe offer a dealer a couple of hundred bucks? Cheaper than buying the whole rig and then deciding you want out.
 
Thanks Guys I currently still have about 200 albums that are on shelves in our music/TV room. I looked through them and assuming they don't sound terrible, I would still listen to most of them, some more than others.

That's enough IMO:music:

For a couple of weeks (last year)I listened to some of them on a cheap old ($99) Kenwood TT & Stanton cartriage I pulled out of storage and hooked to an unused Aragon SS preamp with phono stage then to my ARC pre. I had not listened to vinyl in years. It was a bit harsh at times listening to the music. I'm sure from the equipment stand point more than the recordings but that is hard to say. The sound was not as bad as I was expecting.

An old cartridge may have dried out, been poorly aligned, or any number of things that could make it sound harsh.

That said there was something comforting about listening to vinyl again, maybe just nostalgia but, the few clicks and pops weren't as bad as I remember. Though having something other than a hand held record cleaning brush would make a world of difference I'm sure. Even with that equipment there was a warmth and fullness that was very enjoyable.

A good RCM is definitely necessary, even new vinyl sounds better after a cleaning

Do you vinyl people out there use tube or ss phono stages to your preamps and is it nothing more than liking the sound of tubes?

I have a SS stage in my tube pre. I am deciding between the Marchand tube stage and the Decware tube stage as I love the sound of tubes.

I did find when I used the Aragon 24K preamp phono stage to the ARC preamp the signal was quite low and I had to turn the volume up quite a bit (3 o'clock) to listen as slightly louder than room conversation level. Any thoughts on using a preamp phono stage to feed another preamp?

Tape out to any line level in should work just fine.
 
Ha ha. Since I bought my Scout a couple of years ago, I've spent at least $3000 on LPs. I see no problem starting out without even having any records. I would have spent probably just as much on CDs, but since I have a choice, I now spend at least $100 on LPs for every $1 for CDs. Most of the time, I prefer the sound from LP over the CD.
 
How come nobody would say, if you don't have, cd, sacd, dvd-a or blue-ray...you shouldn't...

Analog is real high resolution. Buy the best you can afford and enjoy.
 
How come nobody would say, if you don't have, cd, sacd, dvd-a or blue-ray...you shouldn't...

Analog is real high resolution. Buy the best you can afford and enjoy.

Actually I would say that if you don't have SACD or DVD-As already don't go down that route. Blu-Ray is different as it is an emerging technology and may be successful though that remains to be seen.
 
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